Tire-tightener.



No. 868,818. PATENTED 0011.22, 1907.

T. T. SMITH.

TIRE TIGHTENER. APPLIUATION FILED 11.20.1907.

5 714 i; .lf3 J0 y ANU/@VE V5 THOMAS T. SMITH, OF LEE, IOWA.

l TIRE-TIGHTENER.

Specification of Lettere Patent.-

Patented cote, i907.

Application tiled April 20,1907. Serial No. 869,3671

To all 'whoml it may concern:

Beit known that I, 'lnoMAs l. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, resid-ing at.Lee, in the county or' l Ringgold and State ol Iowa, have invented a new and useful Tire-Tightener, of which the following is a speci- This invention has relation to tire tighteners-and it y 4consists in the novel construction and arrangement of A y permanently connected with a Wheel whereby the tirey impartsas hcroinater shown and described.

The obje-ct o the inventionis to provide a means thereof may be tightened at will, the said means consisting primarily of a elly section inserted in aline- Vlli ment with :the wheel telly, said section being formed yfrom metal and having at its ends ledges which overlap the ends of. the adjacent lolly. Securing means is provided for positively retaining' the I'elly section in proper relation to the felly. The said felly section -islprovided with an elongated opening lying in alinenent with the plane of thevwheel. The tire used upon .the wheel is not continuous and is provided at its ends with blocks which -cnterthc opening of the lolly secton. Wedges are adapted tobeinterposed between the ends o the opening in the lelly section and the sides of the said block and a splice piece is interposed between the ends of the said tire. A cradle rests upon the inner end ol the `telly section and is provid ed with an 'elongated opening. A cap reste in a depression formed at the inner side ofthe cradle and securing bolts ontheends oi the tire pass through the elly section,

n the cradle, and the cap. A sirnilar bolt is also provid ed for the splice piece.

In the accompanying drawingzM-Figure lis a longitudinnl sectional view of a portion oi the wheel rim showing the tire tightener. Fig.`2 is a transverse secl tionel'f'fview of the same cut on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1

andFig`. ''yis a side elevation of the same illustrating th 'inanner of tightening the tire.

. The wheel 1 is provided with the usual felly 2 in which is inserted the elly section 3. Said Aielly section is in Vthe form of a block having at its ends the ledges A. 4 which` are countersunk inthe outer portions ol the ends of the Ielly 2. The bands 6 overlap thc joints between the telly 2 anll the telly section Z. Said bands nre retained by the bolts 7 which pass radially,

. with reltio'to the wheel, through the said hands, the 'telly 2 and elly election 3 and also by the transverse tion 3 is provided with thc elongated opening l l which.

is disposed longitudinally thereof and lics'substantally in the saure plane as that of4 the wheel l. 'lhe thc opening ll cradle l2 [its between the ends ot the telly 2 and rests upon the inner surface o thc folly section 3 and over the opening ll. thereof. Said' cradle is provided with an opening I3 which is also elongatedand registers with The ends of the cradle 12 are elevated as at 14 and the cap 15 rests inthe depressionoccurring between the said elevated ends-14. Salid cap is pro. 'videdat its middle with au opening Vlfilandin its end portion with they slightly elongated perforations 17.

The tire 1S is not continuous and is provided at its end with the blocks 1.9 which enterthe opening 1l of the felly section 3. The wedges 20 are interposed between the ends of the opening l1 and the sides of the blocks' 'l 19. The splice piece 2l. is interposed between the ends of the tire 18 and rests again at the outer side of the clly section 3. flhe said splice piece is provided with a shank 22 `which is-ot` 4greater breadth than thickness and which lies in the opening l1 of the folly section 3. The shank 22-is provided with a'serew threaded. extremity 23 which passes through. the perforation 16 of the cap 15 and upon which is screwed the nut 24. The tire ends are provided with the rectangular openings 25 which register with the perlorations 26 passing through the blocks 19. The rcctangu lar openings 25 are of greater lateral dimensions than the perforations 26. The bolts 27 are provided with the squared heads 28 which lie in the rectangular' openings 25 of the tire ends and thc body portions of the said bolts pass through the perioraiions. 26 of the blocks l!) audlhrough the opening 13 of the cradle l2 and also through 'the slightly elongated perforatlons l7 in the cap 15. The extremities ol the bolts 27 arc screw threaded und the nuts 29 are screwed upon the threaded ends ol the said bolts and bear against the inner surface ol' the cap l5.

To tighten the lire upon the wheel thus equipped the bolts 27, splice piece 2l, cradle vl2 and cap 15 arc removed lhc bolts, such as 30, having elongated heads 31 are substituted in the porlorstions at the ends of the tire for the bolts 27 just removed and the nuts 32 are screwed down upon the bolts 30 until they come into engagement with the inner ends of the blocks 19. The v bolt heads 3l are then placed between the jaws of a viso (not shown) land the vise is tightened up. Thus,l the ends oi tbc tire are brought together about. the riln of the wheel, or as ucar together as the slack in the tire will permit.

the ends ol' the tiro l in their newly udjustcd positions,v is then inserted between the said tire ends and the nut Wedges 2() are then inserted betweenv the ends ol' the opening l1 und the sides of the blocks Having described myi-nvention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Inn., lyviheel, a felly section interposed between the ends of the felly thereof and having an elongated opening, a nonzcontinuous tire having at its ends blocks which enter the opening of -the felly section, a crdale located upon thefelly section and having an opening registering with the elongated opening thereof, a cap restingr upon the cradle, bolts passing throughrthe ends of the tire and through the cradle and cap, nuts screw threaded upon said bolts and a splice piece interposed between the ends of the tire and having a shank provided with a threaded extrem- .ity which passes through the cap and n. nut engaging said extremity.

2. in a wheel, a felly section interposed between the ends of the telly thereof and having,r an elongated opening, a non-continuous tire having at its ends blocks which 'enter the opening in the felly section, the tire ends having non-circular openings and the blocks having perforations which register' with said openings, a cradle also interposed betweenl the ends ot" the telly and resting upon the felly section and having un elongated opening which registers with the opening in the telly section, Suid cradle having elevated ends, n cup resting upon the cradle between the elevated ends thereof, bolts having non-circular heads which lie in the openings in the tire ends, said bolts psln'g through said blocks, the cradle, and the cap und havin/g suitable securing means and a splice piece carried by the elly section and interposed between the ends of the tire.

'3, In n wheel, n felly section interposed between the vends of the felly thereof and having ledges which overlap the ends of the felly, the felly being provided with extremities which overlap the ends of the fellv section, bands overlapping:` the intermediate portion of the joints between the felly section and folly, nl non-continuous tire resting upon the'iellyymeuus t'or securingr the ends of the tire'to the felly section and :t splice piece carried by the folly section :1nd interposed between the ends of the tire.

In'testiinony thnt l claim the foregoing as my' own, I have hereto niiixcd luy signature in the presence of two witnesses.A y

THOMAS T. SMITH.

Witnesses z Luwrs E. CAsrinY, 'un'r A. CAsAnr. 

